printer won't scan a photo in color (only b&w)

[Helen19]

My printer won't scan a photo in color (only b&w), so it shows up on my computer only as black & white. How do I change it to color? Can't find anywhere on the printer to change it, can you? Thanks for the help.

[banhien]

Hi,

Welcome to HP Support Forum. Please let us know:

(a) What is your printer,

(b) What is the Operating System of your computer ?

(c) Where do you scan from (from printer or from computer software ) ?

Regards.

[Helen19]

HP Officejet Pro 8620

iMac

Scan from printer

[banhien]

Hi,

From the printer screen, you should be able to see atleast 5 icons similar to the left hand side of the following image

        

Please select icon (also called Shorcut) "Save as JPEG" because by default it will scan Photo and save output as Color. It is a preset Shortcut.

Regards.

[ShlomiL]

Hi,
The default scan workflow configured to scan documents as Black and White. Make sure to change the scan settings to scan documents with color:

Now change the settings as following:
1. Open the HP Utility and select your device.
     Note: If it is not present under Applications go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, double click the printer, select Printer Options and then click Open Utility within the Utiltiy tab.
2. From Scan Settings open the "Scan to Computer".
3. Click the Scan Tasks tab.
4. Select the affected shortcut and click on Edit... (or just double-click the shortcut).
5. In the section of Scan from an HP Device click on the blue triangle or the Show Details button to enlarge the menu.
6. From the enlarged menu now open the drop-down menu next to Mode
7. Now select the Color option and then click on OK to save the changes. The next scanned document using this workflow will appear in color.

Regards,
Shlomi

[Helen19]

Advanced settings for save as JPEG did not show up on my screen. 

Should I only save a photo as JPEG and not PDF? Would that be the best solution? Thanks for your help.

[Helen19]

Thanks for trying to help ShlomiL but "select Printer Options and then click Open Utility within the Utiltiy tab" does not show up. My printer is a HP Office Jet Pro 8620, so maybe it is different than what you suggested.

I'm "guessing" that the only way to go is to click on JPEG and not PDF because PDF shows up as black & white, don't know why? But sometimes when I click on JPEG it doesn't scan the whole photo, but is in different segments.

I wish I had a phone number where I could actually reach a real person who could walk me through it.

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

The option to open HP Utility is available for the HP Officejet Pro 8620 as decribed.

If you do not see such an option you may added an AirPrint driver instead.

First check if you may have an HP folder under Applications, if there is open the HP Utility from there.

Otherwise open System Preferences > Printers & Scanners.

Select teh 8620 printer and press the minus sign.

Next click the plus sign to add a new printer, select the 8620 from the shown printers list.

Be sure to select the printer model within the Use drop down menu instead of Airprint and press Add, then the HP Utility should be shown as described i my previous post.

Shlomi